Moral panic about masturbation and pornography is nothing new, but in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election, numerous conservative groups—many of whom have deep ties to the natalist movement—have started to ring the alarm bell once again. This week, June and Josh take a look at the early history of fear of masturbation, then jump forward to the present day to see how the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) reflects many of these paranoias and introduces problems of its own.
There's also a pretty significant detour into talking about the Zootopia abortion comic, if that's your thing.
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EPISODE ART: John Harvey Kellogg, a physician who founded the Kellogg Company with his brother Will in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1906. Kellogg believed that bland food such as unsweetened corn flakes could aid in reducing the urge to masturbate. He also was a notable eugenicist and co-founded the Race Betterment Foundation in 1914 to discourage interracial relationships.
AUDIO CLIPS:
FURTHER READING/LISTENING:
- The Worst of All Possible Worlds episode about Every Young Man's Battle (Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube)
- The Zootopia abortion comic
SOURCES:
- The Age-Gated Internet Is Sweeping the US. Activists Are Fighting Back
- The far right’s crusade against porn is a red herring – it’s actually a crusade against progress
- Re-Victimized: When Sexual Assault Gets Uploaded to Porn Platforms
- The Disturbing True Story of Kellogg’s Anti-Masturbation Cereal
- How Project 2025 Tries to Demonize LGBTQI+ People—and Why It’ll Fail
- Nick Kristof and the Holy War on Pornhub
- Delete history: Pornhub changed the world, but its empire faces a reckoning
- Internet Censorship Bills Wouldn’t Help Catch Sex Traffickers
- Project 2025 Tracker
- Age verification regulations in the United States of America
- Hack of Age Verification Company Shows Privacy Danger of Social Media Laws
- Press release about the passage of KOSA from the office of Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-MD)
- IHOPKC founder committed sexual abuse, misconduct against 17 women, investigation finds
- Melissa McCarthy Apologizes for Supporting Charity with Anti-LGBTQ Past
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FOLLOW JOSH:
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FOLLOW JUNE:
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- Writing: June's Substack